


Lean on Me

by milesofregrets



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: 5 times/1 time, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Friendship, Magnus gives relationship advice, Magnus is friend shaped, Mild Blood, Mild Hurt/Comfort, but not reallt, idk - Freeform, magnus loves his friends that is all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22070569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milesofregrets/pseuds/milesofregrets
Summary: Five times Magnus helps a friend in need, and one time he needs some help from friends.
Relationships: Carey Fangbattle/Killian, Julia Burnsides/Magnus Burnsides, Magnus Burnsides & Angus McDonald, Magnus Burnsides & Carey Fangbattle, Magnus Burnsides & Taako, Magnus Burnsides & The Director | Lucretia
Comments: 15
Kudos: 56





	1. Carey

Carey was never one to get caught up on details. She thought things through alright, she was smart, but she never second-guessed her plans. She knew her moral code and she stuck to it.  
Yeah, Carey wasn't afraid of much.  
But today.  
She and Magnus were sparring, part of their daily routine. Sun streamed in through the windows in the training dome, and the morning was just breaking, but the two of them had already been at it for hours. Despite the intense competition and the many punches they'd already landed today, Carey's heart wasn't in it. She kept spacing out, kept missing blows, and Magnus would keep pinning her and end up giving her a couple more bruises to remember him by. But it didn't bother her, not as much as the worry that ate away at her brain minute by minute. Finally, after the fourth-or-so easy win, Magnus sat down on the ground beside her, giving her a worried, but knowing, look.  
"Hey. How you doing?" he asked softly.  
Carey shook herself out of another little trance, looking up at him.  
"Oh. I'm, uh, I'm fine. Just a little off my game is all." she said quickly. "Don't be getting a big head about it, dumbass. I'm going easy on you."  
She said it with a teasing tone and a laugh, and Magnus smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.  
"C'mon, scales, don't hold out on me. I know that look."  
Carey sighed, too preoccupied to argue with him about the dumb nickname. She could never keep a secret from him, and besides, she didn't want to.  
"It's about Killian."  
Magnus perked up at the mention of his friend. He absolutely loved the two of them to death, was their number 1 fan and shipper, and would never pass up a chance to give advice or spend time with them.  
"What about her? No, wait, lemme guess. She hugged you too hard and broke a rib. No- she's too perfect for you and you're stressed about how happy you are."  
Carey laughed at his enthusiasm, scooting closer to him.  
"Well, you aren't too far off, ya big sap."  
Magnus looked surprised.  
"What do you mean?"  
Carey took a deep breath, and began rubbing her bracer absentmindedly, a nervous tick Magnus knew well.  
"Well... I was, uh.... I was thinking of proposing. Today." she chuckled quietly.  
Magnus looked surprised, and then overjoyed, and he wrapped up her small figure in a massive bear hug.  
"Whoa, whoa, watch it, Mags." she yelped, smiling as he nearly crushed her, wrapping her arms around his neck.  
"Carey! I'm so happy for you! Finally putting my amazing craftsmen-ship to good use." he laughed, setting her back down gently. "But what's bothering you?"  
She coughed, and settled back down beside Magnus, looking extremely nervous.  
"I-I know its dumb... but I'm just worried, y'know? I love Killian, like a lot a lot, a stupid amount and it's probably super obvious what I'm gonna do, but what if..."  
Magnus patted her shoulder sympathetically.  
"What if she doesn't like it?"  
He laughed.  
"She will love it, Carey. You wanna know why?"  
"Why?"  
"Because she loves you! It doesn't need to be the perfect proposal, it just needs to be you. The real you, who she knows and loves, and she will never, in a million years, turn you down. And if she does, we better find where they've stashed her body, because that's not the real Killian."  
Carey smiled at his rambling, and leaned her head on his shoulder.  
"Yeah, I, uh, I know. It's just hard not to worry about it."  
Magnus gave her a sympathetic look.  
"I know, Carey."  
The air was still as silence set in for a second. Carey looked over at her friend, and immediately cursed herself for the topic she'd brought up. He didn't seem to realize it, but Magnus had begun sliding a finger across his wedding ring, his gaze soft and absent-minded as he stared off into the sunbeams on the walls of the gymnasium, deep in thought.  
"Shit, Magnus, I'm sorry, I shouldn't've-" she rambled quickly, putting her hand on his shoulder.  
"What?" he started, snapping out of his trance and immediately realizing the situation. "Oh, Carey, no- no, it's ok. It's ok. I'm just, taken back, is all." he replied sheepishly.  
Carey still felt bad, avoiding his gaze.  
"Magnus...."  
She knew better than that, she knew she should have asked someone else-  
Her thoughts were cut off by Magnus's hand on her knee as he turned to face her.  
"Carey. I'm alright, you know. This is about you. I promise you, Killian's gonna love whatever you do for her."  
Carey looked into his earnest face, and smiled ever so slightly.  
"I know. I just- shouldn't have brought it up."  
"No! No, no. Look- Carey, I-" Magnus stumbled with his words, looking nervous and fiddling with his hands.  
"I want to tell you about her."  
Oh.  
Carey sat shocked.  
"I would love that, Magnus."  
He took a deep breath, still worried, but ready. Carey gave him a comforting hug, and he began to speak.  
"Julia loved sunflowers.  
When I- when I was coming up with a proposal, I got nervous too. My stomach was constantly in knots whenever I saw her, and I wanted it to be perfect. So I picked sunflowers, lots of them, to keep me busy, because they reminded me of her. I had so many bouquets, and I was so bad at arranging them. I had a whole elaborate thing set up, with bards and confetti and-" he laughed, "lots of big, crazy things like that."  
Carey leaned into the story, a soft grin on her face. Magnus almost never talked about Julia, and she loved to see him so happy, so... in love. She knew it hurt him every day that he couldn't just burst into stories about his wife, and every time he was able to, it made her day.  
"But, y'know how it goes. Life doesn't always work out like you mean it to, and we got... swept up in a battle, a war, kind of, and afterwards it was all kind of a blur. The day we won, we were sitting together in her dad's shop, and she was patching up a cut I had-"  
Magnus broke off to choke back tears. Whether they were from happiness or love or sadness, Carey couldn't tell.  
"And I was so overwhelmed. I loved her so much, and I grabbed an old, wilting sunflower bunch and a little wooden ring, my first draft carve, and I asked her to marry me. And y'know what happened?"  
Carey sniffled, and laughed.  
"She said yes?"  
"She said yes. Because it was ours. It was special."  
Carey nodded.  
"Because it was you, Magnus."  
"Exactly, lizard girl." He teased, taking a deep breath to calm himself as she playfully shoved him.  
"So you get the lesson? Killian's always gonna love you, Carey. Don't waste time trying to be something you're not."  
Carey stood.  
"Yeah, I get it, big guy." she laughed, a few tears in the corners of her eyes.  
Magnus got up, and gave her one more bone-crushing hug, regaining his joy and his excitement quickly.  
"I can't wait for your wedding!" he exclaimed, and Carey broke out of the hug and crossed her arms.  
"You're gonna stress me out, sideburns." she teased, wrestling away another hug playfully.  
"But seriously, Magnus. Thank you. For everything. The ring, the advice... I owe you a lot, dummy."  
Magnus smiled wide, and gave her a heavy pat on the shoulder.  
"No problem, Carey. I would do anything to make sure my beautiful lesbian best friends get the happy ending they deserve."  
Carey laughed at that, then paused.  
"Hey Magnus, why don't you come with me?"  
He looked confused.  
"Where?"  
"My quarters, stupid! You can help me plan, and we can work on carving some more. I'll pick up some tea or beer or something from Fantasy Costco, and we can come up with something perfect, together."  
Magnus looked overjoyed.  
"Really? You'd let a big dummy like me work on your perfect proposal?" he teased.  
"Magnus, you mean too much to both of us not to help out a little. I really mean that."  
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they walked slowly out of the gym.  
"Thanks, Carey. I love you too, ya nerd."  
She laughed and ducked out of the way of his hand trying to ruffle the frills on her neck.  
"Together, then?"  
Magnus smiled.  
"Together."


	2. Taako

They all got nightmares.   
It wasn't a new experience, for one or more of them to wake up screaming or crying and for the awkward consolation to follow. The three of them never knew what to say to each other when such an incident occurred. (What can you say?) So they were more silent. They spoke in quiet gestures and consolations instead of words, because words didn't help. And slowly but surely, it seemed they were getting better at it.   
Magnus couldn't help but think that to himself one night as he sat by candlelight in their quarters, slowly carving the rose petals on top of an intricate little ring. The air was quiet and warm, and he could feel himself nodding off a bit, losing focus, his brain fuzzy and soft. It was late at night, or early in the morning, and he was about ready to collapse.  
Until, that is, a shrill scream pierced the silence.   
Instantly, he was up on his feet, knife pointed out as he rushed to Takko's room, the source of the cry, only to have the door swing open as the elf rushed out before him, leaping again at the sight of Magnus, blade out, staring right at him.  
"Jesus, you scared the shit out of me." he whispered shakily, rubbing his eyes and stumbling forward a bit.   
Magnus could read the signs just fine. Another nightmare. He shook his head, sheathed his knife and threw it onto the table, breathing out deeply.  
"Sorry. Just got spooked, I thought- never mind."   
Taako brushed by him, ignoring this, and sat down at the chair across from Magnus's carving space, putting his head in his hands. Magnus stood a little awkwardly, not sure if he should leave or sit, wondering what to say.  
"Everything ok?" he asked gently, knowing he'd get no response but too worried not to try.   
"What does it fucking look like? Give a guy some damm space, will you?" Taako snapped, his hands noticeably shaking as he looked up.  
Leave then.  
"Yell if you need anything." Magnus sighed, padding away.  
He could practically hear the elf's eye roll as he left the room, wandering into the kitchen. It hurt, just a little, but he couldn't blame the guy for being upset. He knew the feeling just fine, but still it stung to see his friend in so much pain that he couldn't shoulder.   
He took a breath, and got an idea.  
It was, by his estimates, about 2 am. So technically morning, which meant time for breakfast.

The clanging of the pots and pants and whisks and cracking of eggs finally drew Taako from his catatonic state into the kitchen after yelling several times for peace and quiet. Magnus's cooking by candlelight was, as he would expect, going very poorly.  
"What the hell are you doing in here? Building a fuckin' sword?" he huffed, adjusting to the scene in front of him.  
Magnus stood sheepishly, covered in flour and eggshell, stirring some strange clumpy grey mess in a massive bowl. The sink was piled with dishes and the counters covered with ingredients that had undoubtably each been tried and tested, to no avail.  
"Making pancakes?" Magnus grinned.  
Taako rolled his eyes again, and without a word shoved Magnus out of the way.  
"This is not pancake batter, my dude. This shit looks like... well, shit." he remarked in disgust.  
"Did you use fucking ash instead of flour? Why is it grey?"   
Magnus laughed a little and happily sat down and let Taako effortlessly take charge. It was one of things he could always count on, the elf's perfectionist standards.   
He slid the bottle of black food dye under the counter of the table, and prepared himself for Taako's barrage of horrified insults.   
The elf was fairly quiet, at first, and he seemed if anything annoyed that he had to take charge of his incompetent friend's cooking attempt. He stirred angrily and smashed eggs against the side of the bowl instead of the gentle and delicate crack he normally did. But after a while, they began to slide into a comfortable rhythm. Taako would insult Magnus's cooking, Magnus would retort, and Taako actually began to show him how to do it right, which even surprised Magnus.   
After a while, Magnus took the chance. Shifting in his seat, he asked gently,  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
Taako paused in his expert movements, letting the ladle drip batter onto the freshly washed counter, looking... frightened? Upset?  
"Aw hell. I mean, if I'm keeping it real, and I am, not really. But here we fuckin' are, I guess." he sighed, letting down his hair and turning to Magnus.  
Magnus gave him a soft smile and moved his chair to face the kitchen setup.  
"I get it. You don't need to explain. Just... it's over and gone, Taako. You're safe, you know."  
Taako shyed away from that, a little embarrassed for sure, refusing to meet Magnus's gaze. But still, he kept his guard down for a second longer.  
"Thanks."  
Magnus nodded.  
"Anytime."

The candle burned low as the pancakes began cooking, and by the time dawn split the horizon, breakfast was served and it was time for Taako to meet Kravitz down below the base. He had loosened up amazingly, and was happily throwing a scarf on, ready to head out the door, when Merle walked out of his room, yawning.  
"Goddamm, what'd I miss?" he chuckled.  
"You sleep like a fuckin' rock, my man." Taako deadpanned.  
Merle waved him off and yawned, wandering over to the stack of warm food.   
"Say hi to ghost rider for me." he said, signaling to Taako it was time to go.  
The elf snorted and walked briskly out the door with a smile hanging on the edges of his mouth that Magnus noticed with pride.  
After he had gone, Merle turned to face his friend.  
"Quick thinkin', bud."  
"What?"  
Merle raised his eyebrows.  
"About the pancakes. You know he can never resist making fun of our shitty cooking."  
"Wait, you heard that?" Magnus asked, surprised.  
"I'm not deaf, dumbass. You just beat me to him and I figured I'd let y'all be." Merle shrugged.  
"Oh. Well, yeah. Figured he could use a distraction, I guess." Magnus fidgeted in his seat.   
Merle chuckled.   
"Y'did good, kid."  
Magnus gave him a brief smile, and the two of them sank into comfortable silence, with only the sound of forks and knives scraping plates to interrupt.  
It was nice. To see Taako happy, that is. And knowing how closed off the elf could be at times, Magnus couldn't help but feel a bit of pride bubble up in his chest, because maybe they really were closer than he thought.   
And it was a good feeling.


	3. Lucretia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man i hope i wrote lucretia alright?? its so hard to make sure she sounds like herself bcs stolen century lucretia is so different from how she is in the other arcs and i want to do my gal justice, anyway hope yall enjoy

Of all the things she hated about the memory wipe, (and there were many), one of the things that hurt Lucretia the most was the loss of her relationship with Magnus. Of course, the whole crew had been her family (she hoped they felt the same), but the two of them had been... it was hard to describe. Siblings. The two youngest members of the voyage had to stick together; and Magnus would tease her, but he was fiercely loyal and even a tad overprotective of her. She recalled with sadness and love several cycles where he would rather throw himself in harm's way, in front of an axe or a claw or a inky black tendril than watch her take a hit, even knowing she'd be back just the next cycle. She remembered nights where he would keep her company as she journaled by candlelight for hours on end, even though he was exhausted. Times where they would hold each other's hands as they died because each of them knew the fear of dying alone, and times where they would exchange jokes and jabs in the more peaceful cycles, relishing in the ability to just laugh, to have empty thoughts and quiet, calm, simple time.  
And it was selfish of her to think she could just go back to that same relationship after doing such a horrible thing to him, to all of them, but every once in a while she would hope. For some semblance of that family she once had, with Taako or Merle or Magnus, whenever she saw them, but it was thoroughly shattered. She had gambled away everything, their memories, their love, 20 years of her life and nothing could rebuild that bond when they had grown so incredibly far apart.   
Still, she hoped she had at least given them a chance. A chance to be happy, even if it wouldn't last forever. And she resigned herself to her loneliness, her position as leader, director, cold and disconnected overseer. It was what she had written herself into, what she would live with, what she deserved, and the rhythm of her life became some strange comfort, in her ability to take care of her friends even if they never really saw her.  
And yet.  
There were times, when she looked at the three of them, where it seemed like nothing had changed at all. They would laugh and tease and joke and for a second, everything would be ok. She believed in what she'd done, she'd built an empire within the Bureau of Balance, and she hoped someday it would be worth it. Magnus was a man who'd lost everything, but even so was still the kind and caring brother she'd once had all those years ago. There was no denying he had changed, a little for the better, a little for the worse, but she was grateful for that kindness he still exuded. There were small moments, where he would throw little questions her way, "How are you doing?", or "How have you been?", and even though it was nothing more than polite courtesy, it made her smile each time.   
There was a day before she'd planned to send them off on a mission; one of the seekers had picked up on an unusual energy surge somewhere deep in the western mountains, and Lucretia worried. She always did, but today was worse than usual; she worried it was too far for what was probably nothing, she worried the trip would be too dangerous, she worried, like always, that they wouldn't come back. Especially because the particular mountain bordered the Felicity Wilds, and she couldn't risk that. She couldn't risk Wonderland, not yet.  
But Magnus, damn him, could always seem to sense when anyone around the Bureau was feeling down. It was like some sixth sense, some superpower to be able to rush to the side of anyone with a hint of a frown and fix them right up, and it was both a blessing and a curse. That day, she could see it in his face he knew something was up, but was too nervous to ask about it. When she thought something was up, the three of them knew it meant bad news for them. But not today, apparently.   
"Hey. Hey, Director. Hey!"   
Lucretia looked up from her paperwork, surprised, to be faced with Magnus leaning into her desk, whispering, flanked by Taako and Merle who looked exasperated, attempting to usher him backwards.  
"Uhhh... yes?" she cleared her throat, shuffling in her seat a bit.  
"Good luck." he giggled, his speech slurring a bit.  
Lucretia side-eyed the two others.  
"On... on what?"  
Magnus just smiled and put out his finger to her lips.  
"Shhhhhhhhhhhh."  
Lucretia held back a surprised laugh.  
"Is he... you know, fit to serve?" she questioned as he slid back to stand closer to her friends.  
"Yeah, he's pretty fucked." Taako said, holding back a laugh and grabbing him by the sleeve.  
Magnus didn't seem bothered, and winked at Lucretia, giving her a big thumbs up.  
"Just go with it." Merle sighed.  
She didn't approve, exactly, of being under the influence at a job, but had to let it slide this once; after all, she'd roomed them with Robby, and chances were Magnus had no clue what he was getting himself into.  
Plus, it was pretty damn funny.  
"I appreciate it?" she replied calmly, fiddling with a pen and marking down the last of their mission instructions.  
"Job interviews are hard. I get it." Magnus nodded solemnly, eliciting a suppressed snort from Taako, who had subtly flipped on his stone of farspeech and was on call with Carey and Killian, who Lucretia could faintly hear completely losing it in the background, leading her to wonder just how long this had been going on for.  
"Job interviews?" she questioned, while handing Taako and Merle their debriefing, giving two scrolls to Merle.  
Magnus nodded.  
"You look like you have one. Soon."   
Lucretia raised her eyebrows. Merle was desperately trying to pull his friend out of the room, but Taako didn't make a move to help, thoroughly enjoying the scene.  
"Do I?"   
"Look nervous." he informed her, and reached in to give her a pat on the shoulder.  
"Don't worry. You'll get the job. It'll be fiiiiine." he giggled, slumping over her desk again, forcing Taako, Carey and Killian to break into another fit of laughter.  
"Thank you." she said, gently pushing him back across the metal surface.  
"Hey. Hey. Director. Look at me." he said urgently, suddenly serious, looking her dead in the eyes.  
"This seems unprofessional, I don't know-" she coughed, avoiding his gaze until he grabbed her shoulders and turned her head to look at him, to her surprise.  
"Don't be nervous. You can do it."  
She almost couldn't hide her smile this time as she nodded and moved his hands away slowly.  
"I appreciate it, Magnus."   
He gave her another thumbs up as he turned to face his friends again and began wandering out the door.  
"You're gonna do greeeeaaaat!!" he slurred as Merle shoved him through the doorframe and down the hallway, and Taako followed suit, completely losing it.  
"What Magnus said!" he yelled as he slipped out the door, and the three of them wandered off onto the quad, leaving Lucretia in silence.  
It took a second before the smile returned to her face as the door swung shut in front of her. The sound of faint laughter as Taako happily followed the trail of destruction Magnus left behind echoed into her office, and she began to chuckle, then laugh, and it felt... so good. Because it had been so long since she'd felt so freely... happy. She felt like her face might split from smiling, and Lucretia thanked her brother once more. For his natural gift, his kindness, his selfless behavior, and his ability to make her smile, even if he didn't even know he was doing it.   
And just for a second, she let her worries go


	4. Angus

"Angus?" Magnus called nervously into the dark room.  
Nobody answered.  
"Angus, I'm coming in."   
He stepped into the threshold, watching the pooling light fade into darkness, illuminating tissues and abandoned books flipped onto their backs. There was still no response, but Magnus could hear faint shuffling from a corner which reassured him.  
"I brought tea, nerdo."  
The cup was warm in his hand as he used his other to feel around for the posts of Angus's bunk, and his eyes began to adjust to the dark. As the only child in the Bureau of Balance, he had been officially given a room to himself, and as Magnus looked around, he felt a wave of gratitude that nobody had been forced to share the space with the kid, especially not now. The mess went deeper, with bulletin boards covered in scattered papers that only went halfway up because Angus couldn't reach any higher, discarded broken pencils and pens, a small pile of clothes in the very back, more and more books, so many that Magnus wondered if Angus could even read them all.  
"Geez, kid, this place is a wreck."  
This time, a faint murmur and a sniffle from under a pile of bedsheets.  
"S-sorry, sir."  
"It's fine! Just, a little bit of a mad scientist vibe is all."   
Angus gave a very faint giggle, and Magnus finally navigated his way to the bed, sitting down beside the lump where the detective was curled under his blankets.  
"Thought you were sicker than you said." he huffed, a little amused, sliding open a window curtain just an inch to let a little visibility in.  
Angus poked a little bit of his head out, blinking blearily. His glasses were nowhere to be seen, making him look much less dorky but also allowing Magnus to see the deep circles under his eyes and the blotchiness of his skin. His hair was frizzy and tufts of it stuck everywhere, which made Magnus smile a bit, although the state of the kid was worrying.  
"I-I didn't realize... my immune s-system was so 'ompromised." he whispered apologetically in the most Angus way possible.  
Magnus nodded.  
"I gotcha. You're sick as hell."  
Angus giggled again, faintly  
"Shouldn't... swear around me, s-sir."  
"I'm an adult. When you're an adult, I promise I'll let you swear in front of as many children as possible." he promised with a smile, setting down the tea in Angus's hands.  
"Now drink this. It's one of Merle's gross sickness herb teas, but he's made me drink them so many times I've learned how to make it taste good. Be warned, there's a lot of sugar in it, but it honestly works."  
Angus smiled half-heartedly and took a small sip.  
"Tastes... good."  
Magnus couldn't tell if he was being sincere or not, but as long as the kid was drinking it, he couldn't care less.   
"Alright, germ monster, I'm gonna leave you to it. Just wanted to make sure you were still kickin'. Be sure you drink water, and goddamn, clean up these tissues!" he fake-chided, slowly rising from the bed and giving Angus a little space.  
"Sir... c-can you... stay for a bit?" he whispered as Magnus began to wander back to the doorway.  
"Yeah, kid. What do you want me for, Ango?" Magnus quickly replied, turning to face Angus, who in reply gave a racking, wet cough that made Magnus cringe.  
"I... have a case... want to talk to someone 'bout it." he said unconvincingly.  
Magnus raised his eyebrows, although Angus probably couldn't see.  
"You sound like you drowned in sandpaper. I'll stay if shut your mouth and rest up." he replied, beginning to stand and clean the debris surrounding the bed.   
Kid was just lonely, and tired, and he probably felt like shit 'cause of the cold. Magnus got it. He was ten, after all, and ten year olds notoriously hate sitting around for too long.  
"But, sir-"   
Angus was cut off by another coughing fit.  
"Ah ah! I'll leave!"  
"N-no please stay!" he whispered, tucking his face deeper into the blankets.  
"I'm bored, sir, and I've b-been sick for... for forever, and I-"  
Magnus covered his mouth with a hand and held up a finger.  
"Say no more, kiddo. I'll be back, don't worry."  
And he rose, stumbling through junk, to quickly whisk himself out the door. He was gone for only about two minutes before returning, out of breath and holding a flimsy paper bag burdened with several rectangular objects inside.  
"That was f-fast." Angus mustered up a small giggle.  
Magnus shrugged.  
"I keep these on hand 'cause if I need Taako to go out and do something when he's bored, I tell him I'll play board games with him if he doesn't."  
He made his way back to the bed and pulled up one of Angus's small wooden desk chairs, and whole desk. Angus sat up weakly, as a soft lamplight filled the room from the corner, not enough to be glaring but enough to add visibility, which Angus gained as he fished his glasses out from behind the bed and put them on.  
"I've got Fantasy Monopoly, Chess, Sorry, and Candyland. Don't ask about Candyland."  
Angus thought for a bit, before pointing out Monopoly.   
"Cool."  
Magnus set up the board quickly, making some short quips to make sure Angus was still alive and still awake as he passed out money. When they started, Angus immediately started winning, collecting almost every property instantly and robbing Magnus blind. Magnus didn't think it was possible to actually be good at Monopoly, but apparently this fuckin' kid really was the best at everything.  
"How are you doing that?" he cried indignantly as Angus collected his 300 dollars in rent money.  
"Its just s-statistics, sir!" he said with another faint laugh, trying not to cough.  
Magnus shrugged and pooled his money, all 153 dollars of it, and squared his shoulders in preparation for losing.

Of course, Angus won. And then they played again, and he won. It was strange; Magnus hadn't expected to finish a single game, let alone two. He couldn't recall a single other time he'd actually managed to complete a full game, and couldn't, let alone with a sick and sleepy ten-year-old as your opponent. But of course, by the time the second game concluded and the faint light through the window-shades had dulled, Angus was basically dead, and every ten seconds Magnus would have to shake the kid awake.  
"Alright, Ango. Time to hit the can." he chuckled, mussing up his hair.  
Angus smiled and was asleep as soon as his glasses were off his face, and Magnus grinned back and began slowly putting the game back in it's old and crumpled box. It was probably contaminated with the plague now, and Taako would make him toss it, but hey, this was the only usage it was ever gonna get.   
Magnus turned to go, but looked back at the mess, and then at Angus, exhausted and fast asleep, and then at the mess.  
It took him a solid hour of silent work, throwing out germy tissues and trying to figure out how the hell the kid would want his books organized, but soon the room was as clean as he was gonna get it, and it looked... almost livable. Magnus washed his hands (with a gentle, quiet stream of water) and stepped into the doorway to admire his handiwork, picking up his bag to go, but at the last second Angus piped up sleepily,  
"...Thank you... for b-being here, sir." he muttered, giving a very faint smile before dropping back down into his comatose state, and Magnus smiled and shook his head.  
Good kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope yall liked!! Angus is a good detective boy  
> also, not to plug too much but i made an animatic! im not the greatest artist but i had fun with it, and if yall wanna u can check it out! thanks a bunch!  
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B_3QsLLJH20


	5. Everyone

Magnus was a good leader.   
During his time in Ravensroost, it was always Julia making most of the plans. She was the one who played it safe, she was the smart one and Magnus was the brawn. That's what people liked to say, anyway. But when the time came for Magnus to step up to the plate, make a game plan, give a big speech, he certainly held his own and his pre-battle optimism and confidence were envied by many, his inspirational qualities well-known.  
Sometimes it was good for pre-fight pump-up, before a dangerous mission or a rough battle. Magnus's kindness, his never-ending enthusiasm was a shot of adrenaline. When he stood at the front of the lines, arms outstretched, with a brave grin, he just... made people feel safe. He took the hits when you needed him to, and the direction he gave to hopeless situations emboldened those around him.   
Sometimes, though, you just needed someone to tell you everything was going to be ok.  
Merle joked that Magnus was the Bureau's resident therapist, and it wasn't too far from the truth. He just had that friendly and understanding energy that anyone could go to for help. Avi would tell him about his worries when they went to the gym together, Killian would ask him for advice on occasion as they sparred or just sat to talk. Even Johann might spare an emotion or two his way, if the day had gone well.   
It brought them together, as a team, as a family, and it made Magnus feel nothing but loved to help out his friends. It was one of the qualities that made him such an honestly good person.   
It can be often we find ourselves saying "I don't know what I'd do without you."   
Carey, Killian, Merle, Avi, Noelle, Lucretia, even Taako, and pretty much every Bureau member found themselves in that situation at some point or another.  
But what do you do when it suddenly happens you have to live without that person?  
What do you do when you find yourself incapable of repaying a debt that you owe to someone?  
What do you do?

I'll tell you what they did.  
They fought like hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i accidentally posted this on the wrong fic oop  
> anyway  
> so i clearly ran out of ideas jdjdjjskdkfk  
> but its ok!! i had fun even if its more of a 4 and 1 fic.. now we get to a longer chapter that im excited to write


	6. Magnus

It took them a while to realize Magnus was missing.   
It's difficult to notice much of anything when you can't see past your nose, can't hear anything but piercing ringing and deafening crashing, and can't feel anything but buffeting wind on your skin.  
It was another dead end, another relic undiscovered. What the three of them had discovered, though, was a very angry elemental controlled by a very angry archomental. Taako was still scrambling to figure out what the living shit an archomental was, and Merle was scrambling to keep his feet on the ground despite the wind that raged against him. An air elemental was, much to their dismay, much more dangerous than they bargained for.   
But for Magnus's sake, they hoped not as dangerous as they knew it could be.  
When the scene calmed, both of them blinked. Their eyes were teary with strain and dirt, their clothing torn and twisted, their hair irredeemable. It took them several long minutes to hear again, and to get their bearings and feet solid on the ground again. Several long minutes before they realized something was very wrong.  
"Taako? Magnus?" Merle groaned, nursing a bruised shoulder as his eyes adjusted back to his glasses. (They were miraculously unmarked, if dirty.)  
"Present." Taako responded weakly, brushing dirt and leaves off his torn cloak.  
Silence.  
"Magnus?" Merle asked again, a note of worry reaching his voice as he looked around the cracked forest without seeing his friend.  
Silence.  
Taako stood with a wince, looking around with the same nervous eyes.   
"Hey, big guy. Eyes up." he said, a little louder, but to still no response, and the search became more frantic.  
"Where the hell is he?" Merle coughed.  
"Aw fuck."  
"What?"   
Taako groaned.  
He leaned to the side to show the scene he found behind a massive leaf.   
A trail of blood splattered into the dark and dank undergrowth.  
Merle swore colorfully.  
"I'm calling Carey and Killian." Taako snapped, untangling his stone of farspeech from where it was tightly strung around his wrist, tearing sticks and leaves from his hair.  
"What the fuck? What the fuck was that?" Merle hissed, raking his hands across his face, pacing across the crushed forest.  
Taako whispered into his hands, ignoring Merle's spiraling, choosing his words very carefully.   
"An archomental?" Carey and Killian yelled through the stone simultaneously, followed by Noelle's confused voice. "You went up against an archomental?"  
"We didn't know thats what it was! We barely even know what the fuck those things are!" Taako hissed back, frantically searching through the dirt for his umbra staff. "But now Magnus is missing, and he's definitely hurt, and we need your help, so step your asses up and get the fuck down here before we get our bones twisted by a crazy wind demon."  
"Magnus is missing?"came a yelp from the stone.  
"Is that Avi?" Merle croaked, crowding next to Taako, who had recovered his umbrella and was now wrestling it back from being flipped inside out.  
"It was all of us, dumbass! Where is he?" Killian yelled.  
"What do you think missing means?"   
"Whatever. We're sending ourselves a pod, right now."   
The stone clicked off.  
Merle sighed.  
"Shit."  
Taako groaned again.  
"Shit."

-

When Magnus woke up again, everything hurt. He could barely process his surroundings, and his vision was blurry and smudged in a way it had never been before.   
He groaned.  
He'd learned survival tactics before. He knew what to do, he could swear it was somewhere in his mind, but... his mind didn't work. It was fuzzy, fuzzy, and all he could feel was the pain.  
His arm was the worst. It was twisted and bent in a way no limb should ever be, his hand still clenched around his shield, although it hurt to move it. He assumed the wind had caught in the sheet of metal and blown it behind his back, and he'd probably passed out from there. And now, it was just... destroyed. His chest hurt too, with what could be bruises or broken bones, and his stomach was slashed with a massive festering gash that was just a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae of shit.   
In other words, he couldn't move.  
The weird thing was, he was moving anyway.  
He was being poked and prodded, blown around like he weighed nothing at all, and every movement of muscle was total agony.  
The first thing he did was cough horribly as he tried to scream out some curse or exclamation of pain. Then, using feeble strength, he was able to make out the beginnings of words.  
"Wh... fuck." he whispered croakily, sounding haggard and rough.  
"Ah. You're awake." a breathy voice replied.  
It was strange, with layers of smooth and layers of contempt, and it sounded otherworldly, royal.  
"Who... who are..."   
He could barely stumble through a sentence without wincing and gasping in pain, and the other being chuckled, voice dripping with cruelty.  
"My name is Prince Yan-C-Bin. Of course you puny little creatures have never heard of me, I doubt your minds could even comprehend the bare sight of my physical form-"  
"Y-you...look like... Will Smith." Magnus said, addled from the pain and, clearly, getting loopy.  
The being paused.   
"I- I don't... who is that." he asked, trying to retain anger in it's voice, but having trouble.   
"'Es an a-actor." Magnus snorted.  
"Is h... Well, I-" he shook itself. "Doesn't matter. Your job isn't to lecture me on puny human affairs. It's to sit here and make yourself useful."  
Magnus furrowed his brow as a racking cough spread through his body, and from it thick, red liquid spattered onto the white marble floor, which he just realized was not the dirt of the endless forest they'd been hiking through.  
"That's disgusting. Why do your bodies even do that? It happens so fucking often... every time I think I have myself a clean temple-" Yan spat, pinching the bridge of his nose and turning away.  
Well, it looked like the bridge of his nose, anyway. Yan was about eleven feet tall, made of silver-blue light that was difficult to focus on. (But definitely looked like Will Smith, Magnus decided upon further inspection.) He was like nothing the human had ever seen before, as if he were made of material not found on Earth. Or at least, not Magnus's Earth.  
At least Yan's distracted state allowed Magnus to take more stock of his surroundings. The marble floor was connected to marble pillars, and the wilderness outside was much thicker and more overgrown than it had been before. Rain drizzled lightly over ferns and thick waxy leaves that were being torn back and forth by wild wind, but strangely Magnus's hair was still and the air was almost stiflingly calm.  
"What.. are you?" he coughed weakly.  
Yan turned his head and gave that horrible snobby laugh again, making Magnus burn with embarrassment at his broken and limp state.  
"I am an archomental, not that you'd understand what that is. I control wind elementals, control wind itself, you might say." he smiled, watching a leaf gently flutter in front of his face. "And I need you, you adorable little insect, to be bait. My little friend found you wandering the woods, right when I needed a sacrifice."   
Magnus blinked.  
"... What?"   
Yan just smiled again, snorted, and tilted his head as a new sound broke the quiet. Crashing, whispering, crumpling leaves.  
"That would be my little friend, Chan. Invited her over for a friendly spar, which you are going to help me start."  
"Who the hell-"   
Magnus gasped as Yan kicked him straight in the ribs, knocking him across the smooth, cold floor. He saw through forced tears that blood had smeared across the marble, and more was quickly escaping his stomach, and he felt like he should be worried about it, but the thoughts he had regained were scrambling and fading fast and he just didn't know what was right, what was wrong, where was up.   
A blade of razor sharp wind slashed across his face, drawing out another choked scream from Magnus, and a deranged laugh from Yan.  
It went on like that.  
For agonizing what felt like hours, there were constant blows to his head and his back and legs and arms. Yan would laugh wildly, and at some point Magnus lost it all. All he could feel was red hot pain, all he could taste was copper blood, and he rapidly began losing consciousness, vision swirling and throat burning with bile.   
Then, a familiar voice from the thick, mangled forest.   
"That would be her." Yan smiled, standing from beside Magnus's shaking form.  
"Chan! Come at last to see to your righteous deeds, my-"  
His (clearly prepared) speech was cut off instantly. Magnus could make out the shape of a purple arrow embedded into the chest of the archomental, who's face was twisted into anger and disbelief.  
"More puny little bugs, is that it? Didn't my little friends keep you away?" he sneered.  
"We beat their ass, and we'll beat yours too, ya big fuckin' tornado!" came another familiar voice that drew a relieved smile from Magnus, who rolled onto his back, which was newly bruised and scratched all over with small, stinging cuts, but it was better than his open stomach wound, and he let his weary eyes fall closed.  
The sounds of roaring, tearing, and thrilled yelling echoed in his ears, but it was so far away. He felt like he was underwater, like he was drowning in his own head, and he could feel himself gasping and choking but it was like it was happening to someone else. He couldn't remember where he was, couldn't remember who that voice was-  
"Magnus! Magnus, hey man. Stay with me, buddy." came a nervous, frantic call from a blurry, blue face.  
"Wh..." he whispered, blinking because that's all his body could manage, and he felt hands on his face, making him flinch in desperate self-preservation.  
"No- Magnus, no, hey, I got you-"  
The world faded into darkness.

-

As soon as she saw him, Carey had raced to Magnus's side in desperation.   
When she had gotten the call from Taako, she knew she shouldn't be worrying; it wasn't unusual for their missions to go really, horribly wrong and still turn out pretty ok, but something just felt off about this one. It was a disgusting gut feeling, one that crept into the back of her mind with spiny black tendrils and told her something was horribly wrong, making her want to vomit.  
She wished beyond hope her suspicions would be proved incorrect, but at the sight of the massive temple, the swirling forest, and the tall, wind-made creature swinging a strange, ethereal blade at a limp figure, she knew everything was totally, deeply fucked.  
"MAGNUS!" Merle had yelled, grabbing the attention of the figure who let out a sneering laugh.  
"Chan! Come at last to see to your righteous deeds, my-"  
Killian drew and fired her crossbow in an instant, setting off a well-oiled chain of events: Taako rolled his eyes, Carey snarled and extended her claws, Avi flipped out his knives, Noelle fired up her old gun arm, and Brad smiled and clicked his pen.  
"Why did we bring him, again?" Taako sighed to Carey, who nudged him, directing his attention back to the wind monster, who was now doubled over from a massive, magic enhanced bolt in his chest, looking infuriated.  
And the battle began in a whirl of chaos.   
Upon seeing Magnus's crumpled body, their hands tightened on their weapons, faces snarled in anger, and the forest exploded into a furious fight, trees being felled and screams echoing through deep woodland, but Carey had a powerful one-track mind, and she was not letting her friend slip away again.  
When she saw him up close, it was worse than she imagined.   
She didn’t know what this giant asshole wanted him for, but he certainly hadn’t been gentle. Magnus looked like he had had the shit beat out of him; bruised and cut all over under his torn clothes, arm horribly bent by his side, his fingers (that she guessed he probably couldn’t feel) twitching feebly, and his face slashed with a nasty-looking gash across his cheek that was just starting to bubble blood down his neck and onto the floor below. Most worryingly, there was a huge cut down his stomach that was crusted with dirt and plant matter, and Magnus was currently racked with spasms and feeble coughs that sent a trickle of blood out of his mouth. This wasn't the Magnus she knew. Not her friend, who she sparred with and who carved her an engagement ring and who she taught how to be a rouge, not her friend who was caring and brave and thoughtful and kind. It was a horrible sight to see because Carey had always held this sort of notion in her head that Magnus was untouchable. He got knocked down, he got back up, and no matter what he would always, always be there.  
So needless to say, she was pretty frazzled.  
“Magnus! Magnus, hey man. Stay with me, buddy.” she whispered frantically, wildly gesturing for Merle, wherever he may be in the fray, but to no avail.  
Magnus didn’t respond, only groaned slightly as his eyes grew unfocused. Carey could tell he was way out of it, and put her hands on the uninjured parts of his face, trying to center him, but he only flinched away and pressed his eyes shut, bringing her attention to the tear streaks down his face that cut through dirt and crusted blood. Poor guy must be in a fuckload of pain. She thought with a sympathetic wince, brushing his matted hair from his open cut.  
As his eyes fell closed, though, his breathing began to slow rapidly, despite his choking for air, and Carey panicked.  
“No- Magnus, no, hey, I got you-“  
He went totally limp under her cold, scaled hands pretty instantly, but his heart was still pumping and that was all she needed to hear.  
“MERLE! GET YOUR ASS-“ Killian yelled as she shoved him out of the way of an incoming branch being blown and towards the temple, “-IN THERE, AND FUCKING SAVE OUR FRIEND.”  
Merle happily obliged, but his face grew heavy with fear when he saw Magnus’s frankly shitty state.  
“Is he conscious?” the dwarf asked, frantically reaching for his bible, and deeply regretting not bringing healing potions on this particular mission.  
“No. He’s in shit shape, Merle, I don’t know what Hurricane Katrina over there did to him, but you’ve gotta do something-“  
“It’s ok, Carey. I, uh, think I got something that can help out...” he said as he cleared his throat, tearing through the pages of his book before landing on a spell.  
As Carey looked on with nervous gaze, she spared glances for her friends, too, and saw that, while they were holding their own, it wasn’t going... super in their favor. Avi was walking with a noticeable limp, Taako had a pretty mean slash across his shin, and Noelle’s levitation system was misfiring pretty badly, leaving her at the mercy of the wild wind, who was looking annoyed as ever, roaring and tearing up patches of dirt and rock to throw wildly at the group.  
"We gotta hurry this shit up, buddy." she yelled, as she took defensive positions and hurled a knife at the creature, which, to her dismay, was only caught up in his no longer solid form and thunked itself into a tree root.  
"I'm trying, kid!" Merle yelled back, only to have something unexpected blow up in his face.  
As he had muttered the incantation for the spell, something suddenly halted inside him; the force that flowed through his soul that tied him to his magic rebelled, flipping backwards and launching itself into the marble, scorching it and sending Merle sliding backwards against it's force.  
"What the hell?!" he cursed, scrambling for his bible.  
"What the fuck was that? That didn't look like cleric-y magic to me, bud!" Taako yelped as he was thrown into the temple center beside his friend.  
"I dunno! It just... misfired. Didn't work." Merle said, studying his steaming hands.  
Taako groaned and cursed under his breath.  
"Of fucking course it is."  
"Fuckin' course it's what? What are you on about?"  
The elf dusted himself off.  
"That asshole cursed his temple. Must be an evil archomental, doesn't want your godly shit in his business. He put a curse on it, and healing magic doesn't work in here, because why should we ever catch a break?" he snarled, opening the umbra staff and flinging himself back into the throng.  
Carey swore, and raced back to Magnus's side.  
"We've gotta get him out of here. Can we call a bubble to just fly you two out, and we can deal with this fucker?" she asked, although torn between her desire to stay with her friend and her desire to kick the ass of whoever hurt him this badly.  
Merle pondered it for a second, but was snapped out of thought by a stone being flung right by his ear.  
"I hate to leave y'all alone... I know you can hold your own, but- promise me, Carey. If shit hits the fan, you leave this fight, and get your asses on a bubble back to the moon. I'm not risking any more of this," he gestured at Magnus, "for the sake of winning a skirmish."  
Carey nodded solemnly.   
"We'll distract him, you run. You've got levitate, right?"  
Merle sighed.  
"Only got my healer shit."  
"Of course."  
She turned to the fight.  
"HEY TAAKO! SPARE A LEVITATE OVER HERE?"  
The elf snorted.  
"WASTE OF A SPELL SLOT."   
Nevertheless, he ran back to them (dodging sticks and razor sharp wind blades) and got it done with a quick flick of his hand.  
"Tell the others to get this fool away from the temple; Merle's gonna call a bubble and we need to make sure he gets home safe." she ordered, drawing her other blade.  
Taako nodded, and joined her in the offensive stance. Carey stole one last look at Magnus, letting out a breath and clenching her fist around her bracer nervously.  
Stay safe, buddy. Just hold on a little longer.  
And then, they were off.

-

The ride back to the Bureau was... stressful.  
Taako was wrapping his shin in silence, occasionally muttering a curse when one of his friends would bump into him in the cramped space. Carey sat in the driver's seat, wishing the fuckin' thing would go faster. Killian was fixing up Noelle, who had been a hassle to shove into the transport in the first place, and Avi was studying a broken off piece of marble from the temple. It was stuffy, and painfully quiet as the scenery rushed by.   
"I think that went well, guys!" Brad chirped, scribbling on his miraculously intact clipboard, much to the crew's dismay.  
Killian blinked, and fixed him with a withering glare.  
"Did it, now."  
Brad stopped.   
He looked around.  
Brad then coughed, and sunk back into silence.  
The stuffiness returned for several minutes.  
Avi shuffled in his seat.  
"Well." he said.  
"Director's gonna be pissed."

-

Needless to say, she was.  
"You took an unauthorized pod, to the middle of nowhere in the woods, armed with nothing but knives and wands, to fight Yan-C-Bin, the age-old prince archomental of evil wind spirits at his own temple? And you left your cleric behind?" she yelled, standing from behind her desk, hands clenched in fury.  
The group was silent.  
"To be fair, Madam, we didn't really leave Merle behind." Avi added quietly.  
She sighed pensively, for a very long time, pinching the bridge of her nose.  
"Right, I almost forgot. Instead, you sent him up to the moon in a glass ship with a very badly injured Magnus, BY HIMSELF, in the dead center of an otherworldly windstorm, surrounded by evil air elementals."  
She was now face-to-face with Taako and Carey, who smiled awkwardly as she fumed, looking about an inch from murdering both of them on the spot.  
"Yes?"  
She leaned back and exhaled.  
"Look. I'm sorry Magnus got hurt, I truly am. I'm as worried as you are about him, and I shouldn't take it out on you all, but you must imagine the kind of situation I'm in. He's still out there somewhere, injured, and all I have to go off of is that you sent them into the sky in a tornado in a glass sphere."  
Carey inhaled sharply,   
"What do you mean, 'still out there'?" she asked quietly.  
Lucretia looked surprised, then sorry.  
"Nobody told you?"  
They shook their heads.   
She paused for a moment.  
"They haven't returned. I'm sorry, but our crew haven't recovered the pod yet."  
There was the sound of squeaking chairs as they all rose, voices loud and angered.  
"What the hell are we doing here? We should be out looking for them!" Killian yelled indignantly, fists forming.  
Mixed protests rose in volume as Lucretia held up her hands.  
"Please, you all. I'm sorry, there's just nothing you can do. You've already helped too much by fighting off Yan, and I can't risk sending you all down there if there's a risk you won't come back."  
She looked painfully worried, her old age being ever too visible as she sunk her head into her hands and sat back down behind her desk.  
"Madam Director... I'm sorry. It's just... we care about Magnus, and we couldn't just leave him behind." Carey said, fiddling with the frayed edges of her shirt.  
"I know." she smiled faintly, looking past them as if she were far away in memory. "I just wish you would have asked. I could have sent you down more prepared, you know. My job is to keep you safe, to keep order, and I can't do that if you disobey me so freely. I mean, you had poor Angus fire the pod! He's ten!"  
Avi shrugged.  
"I would argue that one was actually a win; it was either that or take him with us."  
Lucretia paused, then shook her head.  
"Yeah, actually, that does sound right. Fair enough."  
Noelle made a coughing noise.  
"We just... didn't know if you would say yes, miss, and we couldn't risk wastin' any more time."  
Lucretia nodded again.  
"I understand." she gestured towards the exit. "You all are dismissed, and I promise you will be the first to know if-"  
All of the sudden, shattering the calm air, a worried-looking orc burst through the doors, chest heaving and brow slicked with sweat.   
"They've arrived." she said as soon as she could.  
Instantly, the whole room rose immediately, clamoring and yelling, but Carey was the first to shove herself out past the orc, who didn't have the energy left in her to argue as the dragonborn raced down the hallways and to the docking port.  
The sight she was met with was nothing short of horrible: two Bureau members helping a battered Merle out from the pod and about five others unfolding a stretcher for a completely motionless Magnus, who looked either dead or about an inch from it. Their pod was scratched, cracked, and covered in dirt, and the landing had clearly been sloppy and desperate.   
Carey was booking it to their sides before she even realized her feet were moving, with Taako and Killian right beside her.  
"Merle! Are you ok-"  
"Is Magnus-"  
"What happ-"  
Their voices cried simultaneously, but were cut off by Merle coughing. He waved a hand.  
"Wind blew us off course- we got swatted outta the sky by those asshole elementals, and it took me a bit to get the ship up and running again, but 't's alright. I'm just a little bruised, and Magnus... well, he's no worse off than he was."  
Carey was already kneeling beside him, much to the protest of the medics.  
"Is he alive? Is he going to be ok?" she asked desperately, but was pushed back.  
"Carey, please, you're not allowed to come in contact with a patient in critical condition. We need to take him to the medbay, now."  
"Wait-"  
But before she could finish her protests, he was gone, being wheeled away down the hall, and she was left on her knees, blinking.  
The rest of the group stood behind her, wondering what to do next. None of them had ever seen Carey afraid before, looking that lost, and it scared them. But eventually, Killian stepped up, took a breath, and walked to her side.  
"Carey. Hey, he's gonna be ok, alright? Magnus is tough. He's not gonna let some big bully push him down like that, and you know it, but you worrying about it isn't gonna change much." Killian said softly, sitting beside her and wrapping her fingers in Carey's talons.  
The orc was never much good at comforting friends. Nowadays, though, she always made an effort, for Carey's sake, and she supposed, with a chuckle, that was something she'd learned from Magnus.  
Carey sighed.  
"I know, babe. It's just... I've never seen him..." she trailed off, remembering with a wince the sight of him choking on his own blood, losing consciousness, bleeding out in her hands.  
Taako snorted.  
"I have! His ass gets almost killed all the fucking time!"  
Carey laughed a little, as Merle nodded along.  
"But hey. Listen to me. The important thing to remember about Magnus isn't his bravery, or his stupidity, or his selflessness... what really matters in life, Carey, is...   
the guy has, like, 200 hitpoints. He'll be fine." Taako said with a grin, flicking her arm gently, and she giggled.  
Merle chuckled.  
"Amen, brother." he said, patting Carey on the back as she regained her composure.  
"Thanks, y'dummies." she sighed, rubbing her eyes and slowly standing. "Now, let's do somethin' useful and get our asses down to the medbay, because I'll be dammed if the first thing my best friend sees when he awakens from death is that fucker Kevin from clerical work."   
Killian laughed, Taako and Merle agreed profusely, and the group rejoined. And together they went, bullying security guards and medics as they did, until they found their way to Magnus's sleeping side. Because, regardless of how close they were to each other, Magnus was their friend, and they'd be dammed if they left a friend behind.

-

When Carey woke, the moonlight was creeping through the glass, and Magnus was awake.  
She knew he was always a light sleeper, but after the physical exhaustion he'd been through, it wouldn't have been unusual for the guy to sleep through a whole day. But nonetheless, there he was, blinking blearily and trying to adjust to his surroundings, slumped against the backboard of his bed, chest shuddering under the pressure of breathing. It took everything Carey had not to throw herself at him in relief.  
"Magnus!" she laughed, feeling her eyes sting with tears as she scrambled to her feet and rushed beside him to give him a gentle, yet firm, hug.  
Magnus tensed up in surprise as she tucked her head against his shoulder, but as his brain rushed to understand the situation, his breath caught in his chest and he wrapped her up in his non-slung arm, laughing shakily.  
"Carey." he whispered, as if he couldn't believe she was there in his arms. "You're ok."  
She let out a laugh, sniffling.  
"Of course I'm ok, dummy. I thought you... Magnus, I-"   
She cut off, nestling her face into his shirt, tears rolling down her face but she couldn't bring herself to care. He'd seen her worse, after all.  
"I'm here." he said shakily, wiping tears from his own face, as if he were gently reassuring himself that everything around him wouldn't just fade away if he let go.  
She pulled away, looking him in his tired eyes, bloodshot and one swollen from the wrapped gash down his cheek.  
"You scared the shit out of me, Burnsides." she smiled, and he laughed a little and coughed a little.  
"Sorry." he rasped, ducking his head.  
Carey patted his shoulder.  
"You're ok. That's all that matters." she said softly.  
He smiled back, then yawned. And Carey wondered if he'd gotten any sleep past when he'd been knocked out by the medics. He sure as hell didn't look it, with heavy limbs and bags under his eyes, and the way he was slumped over himself. And damn, if there was anyone who needed sleep more than him, she would be surprised.  
But Carey could see his shaking shoulders, despite how well he hid them, and the haunted look in his eyes, and she decided to break the rules a little, leaping out from Magnus's own bed to, with a grunt and a bit of force, pull the adjacent one over a couple feet so they touched sides. The medbay was empty, nobody was gonna mind except the medics, and that was a problem for future Carey. Present Carey cared about her friend and nothing else.  
"What are you-" Magnus started to say as she crawled into the bed beside him.  
"We both need our sleep, big guy." she laughed softly, feeling Magnus relax as she shifted sideways until their shoulders touched through sheets.  
Carey was about as well-accustomed to nightmares as anyone in the Bureau. She'd had her own fair share, and if Magnus was there, he was always willing to change rooms for the night, or if they were on a mission, to bump shoulders with her as they slept. It was his way of saying "I'm here.", and although Carey didn't know the backstory to it, she figured she could pay him back, this one time. And Magnus smiled a little in the dark, and leaned into the slight touch, as much as his cast arm would allow.  
"Thanks, Carey." he sighed, and she could hear the tremble in his voice. "I'm... glad you're all ok." he said, looking out at the others sprawled around him: Killian, with her arm around a deactivated Noelle, Merle and Avi sprawled across another bed across from them, Angus tucked into a sleeping bag and out cold by their feet, a note from Lucretia on the counter, and Taako, tucked into a pile of pillows of his own right next to the bed.  
"We're good. Chased that fuckin' windmill right out of there." she chuckled, letting her eyes fall closed.  
Magnus smiled, and felt a tension he didn't know he'd been holding fall from his shoulders as he let out a breath.  
"Knock yourself out, buddy. You're never gonna heal if you don't sleep." Carey reminded him as she yawned, and Magnus laughed a little.  
"I'll do my best." he croaked. "...Lizard girl."  
She gave an indignant giggle and had to restrain herself from shoving him.  
"No fair! We were having a moment!"   
Magnus patted her shoulder.  
"It's a term of endearment." he teased.  
Carey shook her head.  
"Go to sleep, Mags." she laughed, giving him the lightest shoulder punch.  
He grinned, and took the advice.  
The room was quiet.  
All Carey could hear was Taako's faint snoring and shuffling in sheets, and the most important thing: the sound of Magnus's light breathing, a little labored but steady. And she let herself relax, feel the warmth of his shoulder against her.   
Because he was safe.  
And it was gonna be ok.

-

And Magnus healed.  
It took a while.  
It took a lot of physical therapy, a lot of healing magic, and a lot of rest, but eventually his body was relatively back to normal. He had a wicked scar down is stomach and a smaller, thin one down his cheek, as well as some shoulder problems when it was cold out, but overall? He was doing just fine.  
It had taken just as much work to get him mentally well again, although Magnus didn't like to admit it. He would say it was just another mission, but the crew knew better.  
Taako would wake him from terrible nightmares, more vivid than before.  
Carey, Killian, Noelle, and anyone who trained with him would notice that he would stumble and fall more than before, there was a new jumpiness to him that he'd adapted, and his wariness around knives had gotten bad.  
Merle could see it in the way he would avoid separation from the group, hating confinement and hating being alone.  
But, all in all, despite how much they hated to see him like that, they knew deep down it was gonna be alright eventually.  
Because when the nightmares came, Taako would be there to sit with him, and aimlessly cook something for a midnight snack. And they would relax, sometimes talk, mostly just sit and watch the candles die. Just sit, because they knew each other's company was the most valuable thing they could give.  
And when training wore him down too thin and he flinched at Carey's hand on his shoulder, she was there to make him laugh, to tell crazy stories, to help him off the ground and help him forget. And she was there in the night, too, when his thoughts were too much and he needed a friend. She was always there for him, and him for her, and she wouldn't have it any other way.  
And when he shied away from being left alone in their quarters too long, Merle would silently cancel a plan or two and just stay. Stay to hum and make himself busy in the study or the kitchen, stay to simply be there. And maybe, once or twice, he would call Angus and ask him to share his board game skills, although he would never admit it.  
Because of all that.  
Because Magnus wasn't alone.  
Because, through it all, they were family.  
And family meant he was loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOO boy this one was longer than all the others combined  
> you know i love me some hurt/comfort and i LOVE carey and magnus so much... its unreal  
> thank you and i hope yall enjoyed reading!!


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